The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 236

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Crescens was dumbfounded.

“Why don’t you at least listen? What do you think it is that you’re refusing?”

“If it were something I truly needed, I would have obtained it long ago. You seem to be forgetting, but I am a Duke.”

“…Ha. Is it because you can’t trust something I’m giving you?”

“Would it be trustworthy? What could someone locked up in prison possibly give me? If there’s something useful, why don’t you use it yourself.”

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

He was thinking what a damn impossible person to communicate with when—

“I know what you’re trying to give me, and I know what the conditions are. That’s why I’m refusing.”

“….”

“I’m leaving.”

Left behind, Crescens mulled over Tesagh’s words for a long time.

There was no way he could know.

He probably just said that as an excuse to cut off the conversation and leave because this visit made him uncomfortable.

From Tesagh’s perspective, there really wasn’t any particular reason to listen to what he had to say.

‘He must think he needs to protect the Manager from me.’

Because ‘Crescens’ had tried to harm Elisha.

It didn’t feel real. The memories of the moment when his consciousness was consumed by half of the World Tree were bleached white as if they had been erased.

But fragments remained here and there.

The withered tree, the ice that had surged from his fingertips, and Elisha’s face watching him from close by.

Even if it was a different personality, it was still something this body had done. He thought it was natural for them to be wary.

But still, sometimes.

“Crescens!”

That voice calling his name, whether he had heard it as half of the World Tree or as himself, lingered in his ears….

“You there.”

At the sound of his name suddenly being called, Crescens bolted upright.

An unbelievable person stood before his eyes.

“…Brother?”

“As you can see.”

It was Tesagh.

“I never gave permission for Brother to visit me.”

“I did it once, so why can’t I do it twice?”

“No, the guards let Brother in?”

“Is your memory getting a bit hazy? Let me remind you again, I’m a Duke. And I believe in using power in the right place at the right time.”

Crescens, who was rarely at a loss for words due to absurdity, ran his hand through his hair.

There was something he could guess about this sudden visit.

“Ah.”

A cool smile appeared on Crescens’s face as he looked up.

“After thinking it over, you finally realized you need my gift after all?”

His words about Tesagh needing the gift were sincere.

What Crescens wanted to give was,

“It’s a magic circle based on holy power. People with holy power can use it too. For convenience, I call it a holy circle… anyway, you use this. The method of use is the same as regular magic circles.”

“I didn’t know such a thing was possible.”

“Of course you wouldn’t know, Brother Ailren. It’s a secret.”

It was the method of creating holy circles that only he, as a former Cardinal, knew.

Since Tesagh, being magic-immune, couldn’t use magic circles.

So, while he traveled back and forth to the duchy….

[Princess Elisha Rionet – Duke Tesagh Alister Moro Marriage Announcement]

Elisha would be waiting for him.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t something he was giving for Tesagh’s sake, but since it would be useful to him anyway, it wasn’t exactly wrong either.

He was watching Tesagh, waiting for his answer, when—

“I still don’t need it, that thing.”

“…I think you’re misunderstanding something, Brother. What I’m trying to give you is….”

“I know. It’s a holy circle.”

Crescens, who had frozen stiff, barely managed to open his mouth.

“How did you know?”

“What could someone in prison give me? A toothbrush? Soap? If not that, then something special that only you can handle. Among the things I know about that you could show off with, that holy circle is the only one.”

“…But then why are you refusing? It’s true that you could use it effectively.”

“I never thought I’d end up saying to you what I said to Father. I’m not uncomfortable with my current state. The same goes for the people around me.”

Crescens bit his lip.

“Are you worried I might use that to catch you at a weak point? Or are you afraid I’ll ask for a position in the duchy since I gave you a holy circle? Or maybe.”

Crescens’s voice trembled.

“Are you doing this because you’re afraid I might ask you to let me meet the Manager? …That I might say I miss the Manager?”

Tesagh, who had been listening to Crescens, took a step closer from outside the bars.

He quietly gazed at Crescens’s upturned green eyes and said briefly.

“Can’t you do something about that habit of jumping to conclusions?”

“…What did you say?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I know what your conditions are too. That’s why I’m refusing. You were planning to give me the holy circle and then….”

Footsteps could be heard from far away.

“Ask me to keep it secret from Elisha, to not tell her that you met with me, but I promised Elisha that I wouldn’t lie to her.”

“….”

“That’s why I can’t make a deal with you. I have no intention of agreeing to that condition.”

The footsteps he had wanted to avoid, or perhaps had been waiting for.

“Hello, Crescens.”

They belonged to Elisha.

Crescens unconsciously stepped back before stopping.

“…Manager.”

“Just how long are you going to keep calling me Manager, really.”

Tesagh, who had been grumbling, leaned his body against the wall, no longer blocking the bars.

So Elisha became visible.

“Tesagh told me. That he met with Crescens a few days ago.”

“…And so?”

“That was the end of it. Oh, he also apologized. He said we were originally supposed to visit together, but he thought it was urgent business and went ahead by himself.”

If by any chance he were to encounter Elisha.

Crescens had been afraid that he might see fear in Elisha’s eyes when she looked at him.

However, she shrugged her shoulders saying “what was I even worried about,” in her usual tone.

A gentle voice with a hint of laughter mixed in.

“Crescens!”

It was the same voice as when she used to call his name.

“I couldn’t reply to your letter. Actually, I thought about it a lot, wondering what I should write back.”

[I’m sorry. And thank you.]

“But when I thought about it, it wasn’t such a big deal. Oh, I don’t mean the note Crescens wrote wasn’t important.”

“…That’s how it sounded though.”

“Oh my. It’s a misunderstanding. Anyway, we’ve shared a lot of our not-quite-written conversations, haven’t we? Crescens writes, and I speak. So just like then….”

Elisha spread out a mat and sat outside the bars.

“I thought it would be best to return trivial stories with my own voice.”

When Elisha met Crescens at the temple, he had always prepared snacks for her.

Remembering those times, this time Elisha prepared dessert.

Crescens covered his face when he saw what she brought out.

“I’ve been doing well, Crescens.”

It was blueberry cake.

“How about you, Crescens?”

For some reason, tears came.

Elisha pretended not to notice as he carefully took the fork from her hand with trembling fingers.

“Of course I haven’t been well, what kind of question is that….”

“Yet you sent such a calm note.”

“My writing tone is always like that… By the way, can Manager eat blueberries now?”

“I’m going to try challenging it today.”

Elisha handed a piece to Tesagh as well and took a big bite of the blueberry cake.

Crescens followed suit. All three of their expressions became subtle at the same time.

“…It’s not good.”

“I made it though. That’s too harsh, Crescens.”

“Oh, no! It’s delicious! So delicious, it’s been so long since I had something this tasty, cough.”

“I’m kidding, I bought it. This is a bit dry though. I bought it near the Imperial Palace because I was rushing over, but I should have gone to the bakery on Ashen Street.”

“What? My tears just dried up.”

“I was kindly pretending not to notice, but what do you do when you say that with your own mouth?”

The two people who were looking at each other in disbelief soon burst into laughter.

Tesagh shook his head while watching them.

“…Thank you. For treating me like usual.”

Crescens said quietly while chewing the blueberry cake.

Come to think of it, it seemed like a foolish worry.

Elisha had treated him normally even when she learned his identity as a cardinal. She didn’t completely ignore Crescenziano as a cardinal, nor did she act like she knew everything.

She understands situations where people wear masks.

“Actually, I was a little nervous, but I guess it didn’t show. That’s a relief.”

“…Were you worried I’d be mean to Manager?”

“No, I’m planning to make a proposal to Crescens.”

“A proposal?”

More precisely.

She understands the person beneath that mask.

“After the trial ends. Would you like to work at our shop?”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. We’re going to have a lot of customers again soon. We need a customer service expert.”

“Then… I can keep calling you Manager?”

“You can call me Manager even if you don’t work at our shop. We agreed to that when we decided to be friends. But if you work at the pawnshop, there would be justification for it, right?”

“…Good. I’ll do it.”

“I call many people Sister, but there’s only one person I call Manager.”

“I don’t particularly want to do you any favors, but shouldn’t you ask about salary and working conditions first in situations like this?”

“Brother, are you really okay with me working at Manager’s shop?”

“What would I have to worry about? It’s Elisha’s pawnshop.”

“….”

“And you have a nasty personality, so you’d be especially good at kicking out troublesome customers. That would reduce Elisha’s work, so I have no complaints.”

“I’ll only do that to Brother.”

“What?”

While talking, Crescens ended up eating the entire blueberry cake.

Elisha clicked her tongue, saying he really does love sweets, and stood up.

“Crescens.”

Before leaving, Elisha turned around.

“See you again.”

Crescens smiled at those words.

It wasn’t just a smile with raised lips, but a very refreshing and bright smile.

“Yeah. See you again.”

It was a very ordinary greeting.

However, no one was alone anymore.

-End-

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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